by Anne Cornelis - Futur Soi Coaching - May 14, 2022

7 things you can do to grow professionally while remaining yourself

For a long time, work has been seen as a springboard to personal fulfillment, except that just the opposite is happening.

'' A bird sitting on a tree
is never afraid of the branch breaking
because its confidence is not in the branch,
but in its own wings.''

Work as a source of personal fulfillment

For a long time, work was seen as a springboard to personal fulfillment. 

Work was what would allow us to get to know ourselves better. To develop our skills, our values and open the door to happiness and self-fulfilment.

But the opposite is true.

 

In this article, we'll look at why we sometimes find ourselves losing meaning, energy and motivation at work. To the point of losing confidence in ourselves and our skills.

You'll discover 7 things you can do to grow professionally while remaining yourself.

The world of work has changed. 

As you're no doubt aware, the world is moving faster and faster, and it's not uncommon these days to do several jobs in the course of a career, whereas our grandparents spent their whole lives in the same company, doing the same job.

 

We have to respond to ever-increasing growth, and therefore to ever-higher expectations and targets. 

Always better.

And ever faster!

 

I see many of my coaches under constant pressure.

They must constantly respond to external demands while ignoring their own needs. They often don't dare to set limits or say no. Some feel they are wearing a mask, not being themselves. Their professional achievements are not always in line with their values, but with the company's profits. 

By dint of these inconsistencies, we end up living beside ourselves.

You end up totally disconnected from who you are deep down. You feel lost and in pain. 

"- We feel empty."

Empty inside. Empty of vital energy. And empty of meaning. 

You lack clarity and don't know what to do to get out of the situation. The perfect cocktail for burn-out. 

Don't worry! There's nothing more normal in the situation you're in.

It's not your fault...

Living in disharmony with our deepest values and the way we function (which is unique to each of us), creates a kind of chronic stress. We live with stress, a permanent, invisible and unconscious tension.

A biochemical mechanism is triggered, releasing a host of substances (some of them highly addictive, like cortisol) into our bodies.

Our ideas are less and less clear, we find it hard to think and make decisions. We lack energy, willpower and motivation, and hesitate to take on new things. We lose confidence in ourselves and our abilities.

The solution would be to reconnect with yourself and get to know yourself:

• take the time to pay attention to what's going on inside us
• know our driving values, what is non-negotiable for us
• know what nourishes us daily and gives us energy
• find out what we're good at, our innate talents.

So here are 7 things you can do right now to break this deadlock.

1. Taste the present moment

Take time to enjoy the present moment, to recharge your batteries, to press the pause button. 

Few of us realize that we only have one battery of energy for the day. This battery diminishes more or less rapidly depending on our daily activities, with stress accelerating the consumption of this energy.

There comes a time when we reach the reserve, in the red, and like a real battery, once the reserve is used up, it's empty. 

And it takes time to recharge!

• avoid going completely flat
• detect red flags early to recover faster!
• Take real breaks several times a day to recharge your batteries (get some fresh air, take a short walk, concentrate on your breathing for a few minutes, practice cardiac coherence, etc.).

To go further, you can learn (yes, you can learn!) to identify your needs and what gives you energy. 

Some activities have the gift of re-energizing us, while others exhaust us in no time at all. Discovering these activities that are part of our "zone of genius" can change everything in the way we live our daily lives.

2. What am I good at?

We all have innate talents. I'm convinced of that. 

We're just not always aware of it.

Why?

Because an innate talent is, by definition, something that comes easily to us. It's something we do naturally, effortlessly and sometimes without even thinking about it.

We often think that everyone knows how to do it. Well, yes! It's so easy. 

These talents or innate potentialities, as I like to call them, are our zone of genius. 

Here are some questions to ask yourself to find them:

• ask yourself what your value is, what you bring to others, to your company, to your colleagues, to your family ....
• what you have achieved, what you have succeeded in doing and what you have contributed, your qualities and talents, the skills you have used to achieve them
• what did you like to do as a child? What did you spend your days doing during the vacations?

Observe what energizes you, what gives you joy. We tend to believe that what we do is "normal", that it's the same for everyone. Discover your uniqueness.

3. What don't I want anymore?

Knowing what you no longer want is a start.

You may find it hard to know what you want to do with your life, but I'm sure you know what you don't want to live anymore.

List all these things, trying to be as precise as possible:

• in your professional life (tasks, duties, conditions, etc.)
• in your family (parents, children, etc.)
• in your relationship
• in your friendships or close environment
• in your relationship with yourself

To go further, go back to your list and replace the "I don't want anymore" with "I want". For example, I replace :

"- I no longer want to be subjected to the whims of
my boss or his bad temper on a daily basis". 

by "- I work in a calm and respectful environment".

Do this with all your iterations. You'll see that this discourse will trigger in you a mechanism of projection towards solutions instead of remaining stuck in the role of victim.

If we take the example above, you might then ask yourself in what sector, or what type of company, could you evolve in a calm and respectful environment?

4. The positive attitude

Instead of seeing only the negative, look at the positive, even in difficult situations.

Far be it from me to tell you to wallow in denial. For me, seeing the positive in everything is more a philosophy of life. We can't always change the situation that happens to us, but we can influence how we react to it.

This way of looking at life is training.

You can start with :

• write down what you can be grateful for
• write down your 3 favorite moments of the day
• observe, listen, feel the beauty around you

Soak up everything around you that brings joy to your heart. Put your senses into action. The feel of a cloth, the shape of the clouds in the sky this morning, the smell of hot coffee, your neighbor's roses...

Our life is already a source of richness and small pleasures. It's up to us to find them.

 

5. See things from another angle

In the event of conflict or disagreement, know how to change your point of view.

It's not easy when you get caught up in your anger or frustration. Emotions are like a veil that only let us see one side of the situation. Take a breath. Take a breath. Calm down, or step away from the situation that triggered it all, and change your perspective.

• look at things from another angle, for example by putting yourself in the other person's, your partner's or colleague's shoes
• ask yourself how he would react, what he would say in this difficult situation
• note the actions you could take to gradually change and improve your situation, not in reactive mode but in observer mode.

Once again, this new way of looking at our lives takes practice. Don't be discouraged, and above all, be kind to yourself. The aim is not to succeed every time, but rather to be aware of our actions and reactions. And that, in itself, is a great deal!

6. Tomorrow? ... We'll see.

Learn now to live in the moment; don't put off until tomorrow what you want to be or want to live.

Who hasn't said or thought:

"- It'll be better when I'm on vacation"

"- I'll finally be happy when I have a house of my own."

"- I'll be able to travel when the kids are older."

• Be what you want to be in the present
• feel the abundance of what you want to have right now!

Why wait? Be the woman or man you want to be, the wife or husband, partner, parent, employee or entrepreneur, ... you want to become today.

• if it's money you're dreaming of, feel the abundance of what you already have and amplify it.
• if it's the love of your life you're looking for, start by loving yourself unconditionally
• set up small daily actions to change, to get to the ideal version you imagine for yourself. 

Your future is created in your present, right now!

7. Professional fulfillment without changing jobs.

Have you managed to implement the first 6 actions on this list in your daily life?

Now it's time to take the final step and answer this question:

"- How do you achieve professional fulfillment without having to change jobs?"

It's not always the job you do that's a problem, but rather the conditions under which you do it. And even if you're considering a career change, a transition period is often necessary.

So what can you do to make your current professional activity as smooth as possible for you, before taking the plunge (if that proves necessary)?

• Go back over your list of values, what's important to you and motivates you, what makes you tick, what gives you meaning.
  What can you put in place to do this on a daily basis? For example, if creativity is important to you and nourishes you, how can you integrate it into your job?
• Make a list of what you no longer want and what you want to keep, what you absolutely need and what you can no longer bear.
  What can you do to improve or change that which causes you suffering or frustration? For example, you're overloaded with work and regularly run out of time to finish the tasks you've been given. Agree to release the pressure and be less demanding with yourself (perfectionist side, need for control, excessive meticulousness).
• Take the time to sit down and think about who you'd like to become and be professionally.
  What are your aspirations? Write down your short-, medium- and long-term goals and see what small actions you can take every day to achieve them, to become that person.

No matter what I do, I always feel like I'm going in circles.

"A bird sitting on a tree
is never afraid that the branch will break
because its confidence is not in the branch,
but in its own wings."

Even so, we sometimes find ourselves blocked in our need to evolve in our professional lives. In our search for balance and expansion. In our desire to show ourselves as we really are and no longer have to wear a mask when we're at work.

Despite all our efforts to change our lives, nothing changes. We go round and round in circles. It's like it's happening all over again. 

It may be a sign of deeper blockages, fears or unconscious limiting beliefs that are preventing you from achieving your goals. In this case, you may want to consider working with a coach.

I'm convinced that you have all the resources within you and enormous potential to achieve what you really want in your life.

Take the first step on your path to professional fulfillment.

Nobody else can do it for you, but you'll see that when you're aligned with yourself, opportunities and encounters will naturally present themselves to you.

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